Stencil



Jan. 29, 1952 c, c s 2,583,820

STENCIL File d Jan. 17, 1946 7 w 3} 7 f5 7 Y 2 g A 7 7 /0 INVENTOR CLARENCE 0. D/CKS.

AT TORNEK I Patented Jan. 29, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT OFF-ICE s'TENoiL" maniacs or'Dicks, Detroit, Mia... iippllcaltionlanuary'17, 194's, SerialNo. 6411796 1 Claim. (c1. 101-'-1 2s;2)

" This invention "relates "to improvements in masking devices, and more "particularly to an improved stencilforus'e 'i'nlapplying lettering and numeral indicia to painted "s'iir-fa'ces.

Heretofore it has been a major problem to apply indicia to a painted surface where the background paint pigment and oils have a tendency to bleed into the usually lighter color paint utilized in producing the indicia. For example, if white lettering is applied to a-red paintbackground, there is a tendencyfor thered color of the background coat "to bleed into the lettering, thereby causing a loss of sharp and clear definition thereof.

Further, there hasbeen the cnnhipresent problem of quickly,accurately-and uiiiformly aligning and spacing individual letters one another when a plurality of -such'indicia is numerals from to be applied to-a surface. It i's necessary in many instances to space letters *i-inifor'mly and "accurately in order to conform to. governmental dle rectives, as, for example, when applying required indicia to airplanes and motor vehicles.

One of the principal objects of this invention is to provide a stencil which may be utilized to apply indicia to a surface prior to or subsequent to the application of a background coat of paint thereto whereby the indicia will be sharply and clearly defined with respect to the background.

Other objects of this invention are to provide 1 be utilized independently of the indicia forming portion; to provide a novel stencil having means formed integrally therewith to allow accurate, facile, and uniform spacing and alignment of indicia formed by the stencil; and to provide a stencil which may be quickly and easily applied to a surface and conveniently packed and shipped. Another object is to provide a stencil having a liner which is easily and quickly removable from the gummed surface of the stencil.

Further objects and advantages of the novel stencil will become apparent upon reference to the following description and the drawings which form a part hereof.

Referring to the drawings, in which similar characters of reference represent corresponding parts in the several views:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of the stencil.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the stencil and a surface, partially painted, to which the stencil is to be applied.

'4 having a figure or other cut-out design provided therein, indicated'by cut lines t. The cutout design is removably attached to the body portion 4 by means 'of bridges or tear portions, or the like 6, to provide'anindicia forming portion 7, and the incised edges of the said portion 1 being contiguous to the correspondingly inportions of the body portion '4. The center portions 3 of numerals, such as 4 and 8, or the like, are similarly rm'ovably attached and contiguous to the indicia fo'rming portio'n as by tear portions 6. The back of the stencil sheet is provided with a permanently tacky adhesive 9, tov which is affixed a creped paper backing It as described in my United States Letters Patent No. 2,427,447, dated September 16, 1947 for Stencil and Process of Making Same, wherein the said crepe paper is formed with pronounced rugosities, the longitudinal axes of which lie in a substantially common direction and common to the direction of removal of the stencil sheet from the backing. The term indicia-forming portion includes the elements 1 and/or 8.

After the adhesive and liner have been positioned relative to the mask portion, the cut-out design is formed by a stamp, die, or other suitable means which cuts through the body portion and liner backing to sever the indicia forming portion '1 and associated liner from the body portion and associated liner, except for tear portions 6.

The indicia forming portion 1 is easily separable from the body portion 4 in order that each of said portions may be used independently of the other. It is noted that the crepe liner may be removed from either portion I, or portion 4, or both.

Notches II are provided in each corner of the stencil and are preferably right angle cut-outs, as illustrated in the drawings, of uniform depth. The notches mentioned are provided to facilitate alignment and spacing of the stencil body portions. The spacing between cut-out designs formed in adjacently disposed body portions (Fig. 5) is determined by the depth of cut of the notches. Hence, it it is desired to space adjoining indicia closer together than the distances between the marginal edges of the body portions and out-out designs, notches are formed in the corners of the stencils to a depth equal to onehalf of the spacing desired between adjacent edges of the cut-out designs.

The overlapping of marginal edges of adjacent stencils is indicated in Fig. and shows the interlocking of the stencil sheets which provides a better positioning and alignment of the adjacent sheets than has heretofore been possible.

It is noted that the indicia forming portion 1 may be removed from a stencil and used to blank out a painted surface; For example, if indicia in white is to be applied to a red background it is not desirable to have the white indicia superposed over the red because the red pigment and oils will tend to bleed into the white indicia and spoil the clarity of definition thereof. For purposes of illustration, it is assumed that it is desired to produce red indicia in contrast to a blue background and it is desired that there be no bleeding of pigments and oils therebetween. An area of the surface l3 large enough to accommodate the desired indicia is painted red, as at l4 in Fig. 2, then the indicia forming portion 1 is appropriately positioned and aiiixed to the said red painted surface, and the blue paint I5 is then applied to the overall surface, as in Fig. 3. When the paint is dry, portion 1 is removed and the indicia is complete (Fig. 4). In this manner there is no bleeding and interchange of pigments and oils through the indicia coloring.

The stencil sheet, with liner removed, may be applied to the surface to be lettered and the desired portion, either body or indicia forming portion, removed after positioning and alignment of the lettering on the said surface. It is noted that the body portion, with indicia forming portion removed, can be used in the usual manner to serve as a masking device over an already painted surface. Thus body portion 4 (Fig. 3) may be positioned over a painted or unpainted surface and paint applied thereover to produce the represented indicia.

While the invention has been described in more or less detail for purposes of example and illustration, it is understood that changes, variations and modifications may be practiced within the scope of the appended claim.

I claim: V

A. stencil structure comprising an adhesive backed stencil sheet and liner positioned over the REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 152,786 Wood July 7, 1874 204,803 Dana June 11, 1878 1,809,199 Gould June 9, 1931 2,199,980 Behee May '7, 1940 2,246,795 Daniels June 24, 1941 2,251,647 Wartha Aug. 5, 1941 2,383,913 Leander Aug. 28, 1945 Dicks Sept. 16. 1947 

